15 - Desperate Times
Recap :The episode starts out with Pegs having a nightmare about Latch. Waking up from the nightmare, Michael is there to try to calm her down, but she tells him to leave. Being so early, he decides to go in and check on Saul, who doesn’t seem to be doing any better since the surgery. Kelly claims that whenever he seems to be doing better, things come back even worse as he slips in and out of consciousness. Gunshots are heard as Angel arrives to find out what happened while Michael seems to wash his hands of the problem. :Angel goes downstairs to find that another tower occupant, Simon, was killed with Kalani and Burt cleaning up the area and re-securing the parking garage. Simon was on guard duty and had decided to take the gun and make a break for it, leaving the tower, but was attacked before getting away. Riley, awoken from the commotion goes back into the room for a cigarette and wakes Lizzy back up, who had been awoken by Pegs screaming from the nightmare. The entire crew meets in the lobby for breakfast, each getting a ration of Tang and cereal. :Burt and Kalani hold a meeting during the meal, discussing their options of where to go next, stating that they heard other survivors on their CB Radio when a scouting party was to the south, and have an option to the east, further towards the Midwest as options to travel next. Michael, Kelly, and the others bring up the point that Saul wasn’t getting any better and they needed to make it a priority. While Burt and Kalani brush it aside as an option later down the road, Michael and Kelly step up to state they would be leaving that day to find someone that knows what they’re doing to treat Saul. :The episode takes place two weeks after the events of the previous chapter, as things begin to calm down from action, to trying to survive. Scouting parties continue to search for other places to live, more food, and other survivors as their last remaining resources are becoming scarce. Pegs continues to be haunted from shooting Latch and experiencing signs of PTSD. Michael is there to try to comfort her, finally beginning to feel something for her rather than being pursued by her constantly. Kelly and Lizzy continue to be caretakers for Saul, but with his condition not improving regardless of antibiotics, their options become limited in helping him recover. :Based on the dialog, several people had attempted to leave the tower during their guard duty, thinking that the gun given would help them in the outside world. Now that Burt is in charge, many people, including Kelly, begin to resent the meetings and which direction the tower is headed, while others, such as Kalani, seem to back him rather than their previous leader. Michael decides to step up to Burt and suggests a journey to the hospital as the next order of business to get more medicine and someone who can actually help Saul recover from the wound and the surgery. :After Michael and Kelly volunteer to find someone who can help with Saul’s condition worsening, a discussion takes place. Kalani and Burt note that they would work on deciding the best places to find someone and decide on who else they would send along. Pegs steps up and volunteers as the third for the team, while Kalani and Burt continue to argue with the group. Michael notes that the tower wouldn’t miss the three with their small contribution to the tower lately and could use the opportunity to travel south and attempt to find the other survivors while they were at it. When they are denied again due to the fact of not wanting to send a small team out just for one person, Michael unwraps his bandages to reveal an arm that has gotten worse from bruising and a broken bone that wasn’t set properly. Being that it was for the overall good of the tower and for multiple people, Burt and Kalani agree and give them an opportunity to prepare for the trip. :While the others head out, Lizzy states that she would have volunteered but needed to continue looking after Saul. Lizzy, Angel, and Riley give them as many supplies as they could get away with and Lizzy heads up to look after Saul, joined by Angel. The group talks about where Michael was headed and he asks why the food supply was running so low. After a bit of talking, they note their army base as well as some of the military installations that should have military rations that would last them quite a while. During the drive to the south, it takes them a while to navigate through the road and manage to avoid a few zombies on the drive. Getting late, they decide to head towards the beach, finding a large house on the edge of a cliff. They head towards the house and find it unlocked, which Michael notes that it may mean that somebody could be inside. :The new leadership in the tower continues to be revealed more and more as a tough situation. Needing authorization and planning to head out, Michael decides to take it upon himself to set up the search party to find someone who can act as doctor for him and Saul. Angel and Riley take an opportunity while Saul was awake to get him a bit more food than everyone else had been allowed. After a decent conversation, they finally decide on a possible solution to their food problem being at the military bases. Between MREs(meals ready to eat) and other options for ammunition and guns, they have an idea for supplies, suggesting that the military bases were more difficult to find and even break into for the mallers and other survivors. Michael, Pegs, and Kelly take the opportunity in their search for a doctor to head south and attempt to get in contact with the other survivors. On their first night out, they stop at a large house which should give them shelter and keep them safe, so long as there isn’t any threat inside. :After passing by a group of three zombies, Kelly drives Pegs and Michael to a large home by the beach. They go in to find the door unlocked and attempt to secure the area, hearing a few zombies inside. Michael manages to use the silenced pistol to take one of the zombies down through a door and another attacks as he opens it, taking it down but getting covered in blood from shooting it. They find a few cans in the pantry as a rat moves in the area, causing Michael to jump a bit. Before eating, they go through the house to make sure it was all clear, locking every door and window for security. They find a few supplies including cans of soda and clothes for the night, talking about their stench and needing to clean up. :Rather than sleeping in the living room on the couch, they decide to take a few of the rooms within the large home. Kelly asks if Pegs and Michael would be staying together, but they say that they’re just taking things as they are. Kelly questions why they are waiting so long, wondering why they were waiting so long to actually be a couple. As Kelly goes to her room, Pegs joins Michael as he puts out the fire and gets ready to light up a cigarette. Pegs talks to him about the nightmares. Michael assumes that she wanted him to stay with her for the night, getting a bit anxious and after being unable to light his cigarette, heads to his room. Pegs knocks and comes in to join him, closing the door and staying with him for the night. :The beginning of the episode recounts the final parts of the previous episode, giving the audience a reminder of where the group of Michael, Kelly, and Pegs were headed. Just as suspected, zombies are found within the home, but it is easily secured. Unfortunately, a bit of blood gets on Michael but he was unharmed in the small attack. After over a season’s worth of building up the relationship between Michael and Pegs, Kelly finally questions why they aren’t an item yet. With the question finally arising, Michael seems to get a bit nervous and anxious, just as he had with every other encounter with Pegs in a romantic tone and Pegs hangs around for a while before finally going to his room for the night. :With the relationship finally moving forward, hopefully Michael’s confidence will return and also assist in getting Pegs recovered from the nightmares. During the talk between the three about the lack of showers recently, they hint that they could use the ocean as a way to get clean in the morning after staying the night at the beach home. Possibilities are still in the air on where they will be able to search for a doctor and other supplies considering that most of the homes will have been raided most of the way by now. Trivia Quotations Links *http://www.examiner.com/audio-drama-in-wichita/we-re-alive-chapter-15-desperate-times-part-1 *http://www.examiner.com/audio-drama-in-wichita/we-re-alive-chapter-15-desperate-times-part-2 *http://www.examiner.com/audio-drama-in-wichita/we-re-alive-chapter-15-desperate-times-part-3